The companion to the beloved bestseller Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, here is the funny, heartbreaking, and powerfully insightful tale that first introduced Siddalee, Vivi, their spirited Walker clan, and the indomitable Ya-Yas.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

When Vivi and Siddalee Walker, an unforgettable mother-daughter team, g

Little Altars Everywhere

The companion to the beloved bestseller Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, here is the funny, heartbreaking, and powerfully insightful tale that first introduced Siddalee, Vivi, their spirited Walker clan, and the indomitable Ya-Yas.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

When Vivi and Siddalee Walker, an unforgettable mother-daughter team, get into a savage fight over a New York Times article that refers to Vivi as a 'tap-dancing child abuser,' the Ya-Yas, sashay in and conspire to bring everyone back together. In 1932, Vivi and the Ya-Yas were disqualified from a Shirley Temple Look-Alike Contest for unladylike behavior. Sixty years later, they're 'bucking 70' and still making waves. With passion and a rare gift for language, Rebecca Wells moves from present to past, unraveling Vivi's life, her enduring friendships with the Ya-Yas, and the reverberations on Siddalee. The collective power of the Ya-Yas, each of them totally individual and authentic, permeates this story of a tribe of Louisiana wild women who are impossible to tame.

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.If Wells set out to create a truly dislikable character, then she succeeded in Viviane Walker. In universe, Vivi is supposed to be charming and funny, despite her many faults. But it’s hard to see how or why. Unable to bear not being the centre of attention, she has no qualms about being as obnoxious as possible to make sure she and her troop of equally spoilt, privileged friends are always in the spotlight. Now in her twilight years, Vivi is a sad, self-pitying nobody, racked with jealousy overIf Wells set out to create a truly dislikable character, then she succeeded in Viviane Walker. In universe, Vivi is supposed to be charming and funny, despite her many faults. But it’s hard to see how or why. Unable to bear not being the centre of attention, she has no qualms about being as obnoxious as possible to make sure she and her troop of equally spoilt, privileged friends are always in the spotlight. Now in her twilight years, Vivi is a sad, self-pitying nobody, racked with jealousy over her daughter's success. A decidedly average woman who dreamed big and thought she was the bee's knees, but in truth never had the aptitude or self-discipline to make anything of herself. This in itself might be relatable, or even endearing, were it not for the awful abuse that Vivi inflicts on almost anyone who isn't a Ya-Ya. Vivi takes her problems out on everybody around her, most notably her children and herself. The cruelty starts early with the stupid name she gives her eldest daughter, Siddalee.

Whilst Siddalee shows signs of an actual personality in ‘Little Altars,’ she grows out of this by ‘Divine Secrets’, in which she somehow manages to be both terminally dull and completely neurotic. I completely failed to see why perfect, thoughtful, sexy Connor (whom everybody just adores. Yawn.) is even remotely interested in her. Connor, if you’re even half as wonderful as the author makes out, move on. You can find someone much better than wet blanket Sidda, and you won’t be saddled with a crazy, ‘diva’ mother-in-law either.

After reading ‘Little Altars,’ I have no idea why adult Sidda would want any sort of relationship with her abusive, alcoholic mother in ‘Divine Secrets’. Or why the other Ya-Ya’s continually gloss over Vivi’s abuse. Perhaps they didn’t know the worst of it, but they certainly knew something wasn’t right. Teensy pays for Sidda’s therapy, and Caro even goes so far as to tell Sidda that at least her mother ‘f*cked her up with style’. Yes, I’m sure the belt Vivi used to whip her children bloody was just the height of fashion, and sexual abuse is always de rigueur.

This book paints the bond shared by the Ya-Ya’s as the pinnacle of female friendship, but let's be honest here. Real friends are the people who love you enough to call you on your crap, and tell you to get help. In contrast, the Ya-Ya's are a sisterhood of enablers who have stifled each other from girlhood to dotage. There is nothing divine about these ladies....more

I read this book quite a long time ago, I remember picking it up randomly at some quaint little shop in a small mountain town in West Virginia when I was a teenager. Not really sure what drew me to it, back then I was much more open to all kinds of books than I am now. I honestly can't remember a whole lot that happened in it, I do remember it being somewhat of a drama story though and not being too impressed with it, but it wasn't terrible.

Loved these books. I remember reading Divine Secrets right after the twins were born, and relating all too well to the part when Vivianne looses it and gets in her car and just drives. I can't tell you how many times I've had that thought - to just get in my car and drive for a few hours, then check into some motel by myself and just SLEEP for 2 or 3 days. I would never really do it (I don't think?) but it was fascinating for me to read about a mother who did and the consequences that followed.

I read the Divine Secrets book first, which I liked. This book, however, was not as enjoyable. It seemed much sadder and more traumatic, and the characters were not likeable despite their struggles. I was mad and irritated and disgusted with some of them, and they did not earn my sympathy. Not that every character has to earn our sympathy, but I just didn't enjoy learning about their horrible pasts, there was little redemptive value. I really preferred the first book much more.

Her writing is so powerful. I read this so long ago but I still have it along w/ the Ya Ya book. I remember being turned on to reading after reading these 2 books. They swept me up and I remember being so completely engrossed when I read them. I love the many voices you hear in this book!

If memory serves me right, I think I liked this book better than the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Or if memory fails me, then, it might be the other way around. Maybe I'll read it again someday. For now, "think pretty pink and blue thoughts."

Rebecca Wells is a brilliant author who has the talent to put you in the first person point of view with all the different characters from The Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood book. I did enjoy it. It was written very well.....in some spots too well.

While I loved Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, I wasn't a fan of "Little Alters" at all. It was heartbreaking family story, but I feel like I've just heard it all before. Maybe if I read it first before Ya Ya, I would have thought differently.

I am re-reading this book for the second time because I want to read YA-Ya's in bloom but was havin trouble remembering the specifics of the first two. I like it still but I reading them all in a row, I think I like Little Alters bst.

Rebecca Wells was born and raised in Alexandria, Louisiana. “I grew up,” she says, “in the fertile world of story-telling, filled with flamboyance, flirting, futility, and fear.” Surrounded by Louisiana raconteurs, a large extended family, and Our Lady of Prompt Succor’s Parish, Rebecca’s imagination was stimulated at every turn. Early on, she fell in love with thinking up and acting in plays forRebecca Wells was born and raised in Alexandria, Louisiana. “I grew up,” she says, “in the fertile world of story-telling, filled with flamboyance, flirting, futility, and fear.” Surrounded by Louisiana raconteurs, a large extended family, and Our Lady of Prompt Succor’s Parish, Rebecca’s imagination was stimulated at every turn. Early on, she fell in love with thinking up and acting in plays for her siblings—the beginnings of her career as an actress and writer for the stage. She recalls her early influences as being the land around her, harvest times, craw-fishing in the bayou, practicing piano after school, dancing with her mother and brothers and sister, and the close relationship to her black “mother” who cleaned for the Wells household. She counts black music and culture from Louisiana as something that will stay in her body’s memory forever.

In high school, she read Walt Whitman’s “I Sing the Body Electric,” which opened her up to the idea that everything in life is a poem, and that, as she says, “We are not born separately from one another.” She also read “Howl,” Allen Ginsberg’s indictment of the strangling consumer-driven American culture he saw around him. Acting in school and summer youth theater productions freed Rebecca to step out of the social hierarchies of high school and into the joys of walking inside another character and living in another world.

The day after she graduated from high school, Rebecca left for Yellowstone National Park, where she worked as a waitress. It was an introduction to the natural glories of the park—mountains, waterfalls, hot springs, and geysers—as well as to the art of hitchhiking.

Rebecca graduated from Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, where she studied theater, English, and psychology. She performed in many college plays, but also stepped outside the theater department to become awakened to women’s politics. During this time she worked as a cocktail waitress--once accidentally kicking a man in the shins when he slipped a ten-dollar bill down the front of her dress—and began keeping a journal after reading Anais Nin, which she has done ever since.